Automatic stoker gas eliminator



' April 22, 1941. E J. souRBz-:R 2,239,061

'AUTOMATIC STOKER GAS ELIIIINATOR Filed June 11, 1940 Pif! INVENTOR EARL Samnaun BLQWM,

ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 22, 1941 UNITED STATE Pin AUTOMATIC STUKER GAS ELIMINATR Application June 1l, 1940, Serial No. 339,870

(Cl. 11o-44) 3 Claims.

My invention relates to an automatic stoker gas eliminator of the type disclosed in United States Patents Nos. 1,830,798, 1,974,475 and 2,140,761.

As will be seen from the patents referred to, gases often develop in the fire pot, in the hopper, or in the coal tube, which are not thoroughly consumed andwhich flow back into the room or other establishment thus causing inconvenience and possible injury. Also, as will be seen from the patents referred to, various devices have been used for eliminating such gases, and, While al1 the examples referred to are more or less operative, I found, by repeated experiment, that they are all defective in at leastone serious and material feature in that the means for providing for the disposal of the gas, while initially operatve, sooner or later got clogged up necessitating service and repair at relatively frequent intervals, all of which seriously detracts from the utility and practicability of these expedients. This is due primarily to two causes, namely, the objectionable gases are sucked off more or less directlyfrom the coal tube of an automatic Stoker by means of the blower which is adapted normally to blow air into the Wind box thus imparting to the gases a velocity which permits them to carry ofi the final particles of dust or pulverized coal, and also due to the fact that Cil them up and rendering the construction lnoperatve.

It is therefore the object of my invention to devise a construction which will operate permanently, or at least for very long periods of time, Without the necessity of servicing, and l have accomplished this object after protracted study and experiment by couritereuctingr the two objectionable features above set forth so as to draw the objectionable gases somewhat indirectly, or at low speed and pressure, and also I have provided means for imparting to these gases a constant turbulency and also a drying effect to prevent the deposit of their contents thus keeping the orifices open and insuring satisfactory results.

Other novel features of construction and advantage will be more clearly understood from the following specification and the accompanying drawing, in Which- Fig. 1 represents a fragmentary top plan view of an automatic Stoker embodying nw invention.

Fig. 2 represents on an enlarged scale a section on line 2-2 of Fig. l, certain parts being shown in the reverse position from the showing oi Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 represents on an enlarged scale a section on line 3--3 of Fig. l.

Fig. 4 represents a fragmentary, perspective view, certain of the exterior walls being broken away to show details of construction.

Fig. 5 represents on an enlarged scale a fragmentary view in perspective showing still iurther details of my invention, certain parts being omitted.

Referring to the drawing in which like reference characters indicate like parts, and more particularly to Fig. 1, 6 designates a conduit, usually termed a wind box which encloses another conduit 8, known as the coal tube" which in turn houses a feed worm il). One end of the wind box 6 is closed and the other end of the wind Abox leads to a retort or fire pot (not shown), and one end of theworm l0 leads to the Ibottom of the hopper (not shown) containing the pul- 1 1 verized coal, while the other end of the worm IEJ leads into the bottom of the retort or fire potfor propelling the coal from the hopper to the fire pot. The hopper and the fire pot, being conventional, form no part of this invention and therefore are not shown nor described. is designates a housing in which is a conventional blower which is driven by the shaft ill and. gears, or the like in` the gear box l. The blower, the gear box shaft and driving mechanism are also conventional and hence not shown. The blower delivers air through the elbow conduit i8 and the opening 2li into the wind box t. 22 designates a damper having the operating handle M for controlling the opening of the air inlet conduit Z, which opening is covered by the screen 28. Zin order to draw gases accumulating within the tube 3, and which, if not disposed of, would seep out through the coal hopper or elsewhere, the tube t is provided with an opening to. Seated upon the tube 3 and completely covering the opening it is a saddlelilre member 32 which is suitably carried by the upper Wall of the Wind. box as at 3i. It will, be noted that the saddlelilre member 3i is hollow and that it establishes communication between the coal tube 8 and the fresh air inlet extension 26, or at a point between the damper 22 and the screen it as best seen in Fig. 2. The member 32 is provided with one or more openings le vin a side Wall there oi, one or more openings dit in the end wall t2, one opening le in the other end Wall it and the other side Wall 48 is blank or provided with no openings at all. In the absence of all of the openings 36, 40 or 44, the blower will serve to suck the damp'gases from the coal tube and force them back into the wind box 6 and into the re pot, but this will happen only when the parts are newly installed and clean as otherwise the damp gases, being sucked rather forcefully from the tube 8, tend to carry sediment and the damp sediment settles about the edges of the opening 38 in the tube 8 as well as the walls of the member 32 thus causing them to clog and rendering the device inoperative.' The provision of the openings 36, 40 and 44, or some of them strategically located as disclosed, causes some of the airunder pressure in the wind box 6 to enter the saddlelike member 32 from more than one direction thus causing a turbulence that prevents precipitation of sediment, and, also, by supplying air under pressure from the blower, any monoxide content in the gases is supplied with fresh air and hence neutralized, and the moisture in the gases is absorbed so that the solid contents of the gases are dried and hence are capable of being carried by the air of the blower and forced back into the wind box 6 and hence into the re pot without being allowed to settle or cake and thus clog the various ports. In other words, the admission of air from the wind box 6 into the saddlelike member 32 above the opening 30 leading from the coal tube 8 serves simultaneously to neutralize harmful gases, to dilute such gases, to dry such gases and other solid-contents, and at the same time to create sufficient turbulence to prevent the precipitation and caking of sediment. actual practice I have found it advantageous to distribute the openings 36, 40 and 44 as shown, but, since the object of my invention is to introduce relatively dry air under pressure from the wind boxv into the saddlelike member 32 in order to neutralize and dry the gases, and since a further object is to cause turbulence in order to prevent settlement or precipitation of the sediment content of the gases it follows that my invention is not limited to the provision of two openings 36 in the side wall 38, or the provision of two openings 40 in the particular end wall 42, or one opening 44 in the particular end wall 46, and that it is within the scope of my invention to vary the number and location of the openings as, an and 44 m any manner. that win not ino terfere with the accomplishment of the purpose indicated, all. as hereinabove explained and as defined in the appended claims.

Inv

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by'Letters Patent is:

,1. An automatic stoker comprising a wind box, a coal feed tube extending within said wind box, a. blower for delivering air under pressure to said wind box and an air intake duct for said blower, and means for eliminating gases accumulating in said coal tube comprising, a conduit extending through said wind box and interconnecting said air intake duct and said coal tube whereby communication is established Abetween the interior of said coal tube and said air intake duct, there being an opening in a wall of said conduit intermediate said air intake duct and said coal tube and leading to said wind box for admitting some of the air under pressure in said wind box into said conduit and said air intake duct.

2. An automatic stoker comprising a wind box, a coal feed tube` extending within said wind box, a blower for delivering air under pressure to said wind box and an air intake duct for said blower, and means for eliminating gases accumulating 'in said coal tube comprising, a conduit extending through said Wind rbox and interconnecting said air intake duct and said coal tube whereby communication is established between the interior of said coal tube and said'air intake duct, there being openings in opposite walls of said conduit intermediate said air intake duct and said coal tube and leading to said Wind box for admitting some of the air under pressure in said wind box into said conduit and said air intake duct.

3. An automatic stoker comprising a wind box, a coal feed tube extending Within said wind box, a -blower for delivering air under pressure to said wind box and an air intake duct for said blower, and means for eliminating gases accumulating in saidcoal tube comprising, a conduit extending through said wind box and interconnecting said air intake duct and said coal tube whereby communication is established between the interior of said coal tube and said air intake duct, there being a plurality of openings in the walls of said conduit intermediate said air intake duct and said coal tube for admitting some of the air under pressure in said wind box into said conduit and said air intake duct.

EARL J. SOURBER. 

